Georgia Baseball squares off against VCU in NCAA Tournament opener

On3 imageby:Palmer Thombs06/03/22

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Georgia Baseball gets underway in the NCAA Tournament tonight (Friday) at 7:00 p.m. ET. The second-seeded Bulldogs take on No. 3 seed VCU at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. as a part of the regional hosted by the No. 10 overall seed North Carolina Tar Heels. The Atlantic 10 championship-winning Rams have won 15 straight games dating back to May 7.

“Our goal is to get to the postseason, and this team has done a good job battling adversity and the injuries,” Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said. “Everyone has that stuff, and we’ve have had our fair share. We’ve had some ups and downs, and here we are as a No. 2 seed on the road. It’s going to be a good challenge for us. We’ve got a lot of guys that have played in the postseason, some older guys, and they have seen more things and experienced more things. When you have that, less rattles you. There’s not a lot these guys haven’t seen on the field. We’re ready to go.”

On the mound for the Bulldogs is ace starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon who was recently named a Third-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. The Alpharetta, Ga. native finished the regular season as the SEC leader in victories while also ranking in the top 10 for both ERA and innings pitched. Cannon has made no announcement as to whether he will go pro after this season or not, however it would come as a complete surprise with him projected likely to go in the first round.

Meanwhile, on the other side of things, the VCU player to watch would be infielder Tyler Locklear. He leads the Rams in batting average (.403), RBIs (75), home runs (19) and slugging percentage (.801) and is also projected to go early in the MLB Draft this summer.

First pitch between the Bulldogs and Rams is set for 7:06 p.m. ET and will be streamed on ESPN+. Due to an NCAA and ESPN agreement, games on ESPN+ will not be simulcast on SEC Network+ for SEC Network subscribers meaning that a subscription is necessary to watch Georgia in the opener. However, Jeff Dantzler and David Johnston will be on hand for the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network radio broadcast of the game, available for free using the Gameday LIVE app.

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